Week 4: Galápagos

ISLA SAN CRISTÓBAL

To start my trip, I flew into San Cristobal Island to spend a few days exploring. I booked myself what is known as a 360 tour and headed off for a complete circuit of the island with a stop at Kicker Rock (a.k.a. Leon Dormido in Spanish – completely different names both related to the shape of the rock itself). I’m just going to include tons of beautiful photos from the trip around the island. *Note, I’m not an expert, so feel free to correct or help identify species if they’re incorrect.*

ISLA ESPAÑOLA

I managed to book a day trip over to Española Island to see the animals that live there. We almost tripped over the pile of marine iguanas on the way up the path. Española is also known as the nesting site of the waved albatross, a very large flying bird. During our snorkeling trip, we caught sight of the nocturnal swallow-tailed gull which has brilliant red eyes it uses to see at night.

ISLA SANTA CRUZ

I took a speedboat over to this island and spent my first afternoon here at Las Grietas, a beautiful canyon filled with brackish blue water. Just a few fish are inside, but the views of the narrow rocky walls make up for it. At one point, I had to swim through an underwater tunnel to get to the next pool.

Vegetarian food is challenging, but making it work. Tigrillo sin carne is pretty good and cevichochos are a great snack. I’ll work on a food post for you. 😊 All the Ecuadorians I’ve met have been awesome and most of the Westerners…